“We love her because she’s fun and uninhibited and opinionated enough to help us begin the latest chapter in 'The View' history,” Walters said of McCarthy, who has made 17 appearances on the show, including eight as guest co-host.

The former Playboy model, who rose to fame on the '90s dating show “Singled Out,” will join the show in September, when its new season officially kicks off. She will be replacing Joy Behar, the longtime co-host who bids farewell next month. “The View” has yet to name a replacement for Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who abruptly left last week for Fox News.

Though she launched her own little-watched talk show on VH1 earlier this year, McCarthy has remained in the spotlight in recent years mostly due to her support for the discredited theory that childhood vaccines cause autism, which could prove more controversial than the heated political arguments that have come to define “The View” in recent years.

“Congrats ABC for hiring vaccine crank Jenny McCarthy for her ‘outrageous... fresh POV,’ [because] actual medical science is so stale and dull,” read a typical tweet from Time television critic James Poniewozik.

A day after Trevor Noah was declared the new host of "The Daily Show," his graphic tweets targeting women and Jews are causing a social media backlash and Comedy Central is defending its newest late-night star.

Ronit Bezalel has seen just about everything on Chicago bike paths, but on her Monday morning commute she saw something that shocked even her: A silver Buick, almost unscathed, in the middle of the bike path.